Louvre says Mona Lisa could get a room of her own
THE MONA LISA BY Leonardo da Vinci, the world’s most famous portrait, could get a room of its own in the Louvre, the museum’s president said on Saturday.
Such a move would give visitors, many of whom visit the Louvre for the iconic painting alone, a better experience, Laurence des Cars told the France Inter broadcaster.
“It’s always frustrating when you don’t give visitors the best possible reception, and that is the case for the Mona Lisa,” she said.
“A better solution seems necessary to me today,” she said, adding that the Louvre was in contact with the culture ministry about potential solutions.
The Louvre, the world’s most popular museum, welcomed close to nine million visitors in 2023.
Des Cars said 80 per cent of them — 20,000 people per day — braved the crowd to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile, often taking selfies in front of the painting. The Mona Lisa currently hangs in the Louvre’s Salle des Etats (State Room), the museum’s biggest, in a protective glass case, but Da Vinci’s masterwork is not alone there.
It is accompanied by works by 16th-century Venetian masters, and across the room hangs the Louvre’s biggest painting, The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese.
MONA LISA AT THE LOUVRE depicts Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco, hence its alternative title “La Gioconda.” Da Vinci worked on the painting intermittently until his death in 1519, leaving it unfinished.
After Leonardo’s passing, the Mona Lisa remained in the possession of his assistant and later passed through various hands, including French King Francis I who acquired it in the early 16th century. It became part of the royal collection and later found a permanent home in the Palace of Fontainebleau. However, it eventually made its way to the Louvre Museum in Paris during the French Revolution in the late 18th century.
Its journey to the Louvre wasn’t without twists and turns. The painting was stolen from the museum in 1911 by an Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia, who believed it rightfully belonged in Italy. After being missing for over two years, the Mona Lisa was recovered and returned to the Louvre, where its popularity soared even higher due to the sensational heist.
Since then, the Mona Lisa has become an icon of Western art and a symbol of the Louvre Museum itself. Its enigmatic smile continues to captivate millions of visitors each year, cementing its place as one of the most treasured and iconic artworks in human history.